


An Infestation of the Mind

by Unchecked_Ambition



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: AU, Blood, Gen, Gore, Murder, Nightmare on Elm Street AU, Psychological Torture, Sleep Deprivation, Torture, but it's really not that big of a deal, implied Rainbow Snowcone, implied north/aster, wow these tags make it sound so intense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-31
Updated: 2013-10-31
Packaged: 2017-12-31 02:14:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1026089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unchecked_Ambition/pseuds/Unchecked_Ambition
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There’s eyes on the back of Jack's head as his pulse thumps rapidly through every inch of his being. He swallows hard, descending a small set of stairs and turning into a large open hallway. His hair stands on end and his hands shake on the rusted railing.<br/>Someone is definitely watching him. But this is all a dream, and dreams can't hurt you, right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Infestation of the Mind

**Author's Note:**

> This wound up being rather long so I split it up into two chapters. Hope you enjoy and Happy Halloween~

The faint hissing of steam and dripping water are the only things Jack hears. It's much too quiet, and that's what scares him. There’s metal everywhere, in the pipes along the twisting hallways, on the railing, stairs, tables, even the floor and ceiling, rusted and falling apart. The whole place screams this-is-where-someone-dies-in-a-horror-movie.

Like an idiot, Jack wanders around. He's looking for...something. Maybe someone?

There’s eyes on the back of his head, as his pulse thumps quickly through every inch of his being. He swallows hard, descending a small set of stairs. His hair stands on end and his hands shake on the rusted railing.

Someone is definitely watching him.

But nobody else is there.

...Right?

Steam makes it hard to see in the already dark building. It's too hot and cramped and the smell of chlorinated water makes Jack’s nerves shoot spiderwebs of nervous energy down his spine.

Suddenly an awful screeching of metal against metal, a long drawn out crescendo that echoes the sound of children screaming, makes Jack jump.

And it just keeps getting louder.

Shit whatever's making that noise is getting closer!

Jack bolts in the opposite direction, running like his life depends on it. He cuts around a corner to a hallway, hoping whatever made that noise hadn’t seen him.

"Shit..." He whispers on an exhale, focusing on slowing his heart rate.

Jack whips his head to the right as an echoing laughter fills the silence, deep and full of horrible intentions.

Jack's blood races and chills shoot up his spine, but some invisible force keeps him glued to the spot and he can’t move, but this thing is going to kill him he has to get away right now or he’ll die a horrible horrible death in this awful place.

The voice bounces off the walls and the volume multiplies more horrible with each resounding cackle, and Jack tries to wrench himself away but he can't move and everything's getting smaller around him as that screeching sound of metal resounds in his ears underneath the deafening laughter.

He finally breaks free from the tight grip keeping him down, and runs.

Jack tears his body in the other direction, brain telling him to get as far away as possible as fast as he can as his heart pounds in his ears and water fills his senses, when suddenly he's being pulled to the ground - into the floor itself.

He's instantly drowning in hot metal and steam and boiling water and there's scorching fingers dragging searing lines down his chest into his skin and golden piercing eyes drilling through his head as a figure made of dripping tar and coiling shadows crouches over him.

A voice twists razors in his brain that's thousands of screams and billions of fears coming together in a dissonance that rips through Jack's ears in two syllables.

"Wake up."

Jack wakes with a scream tearing clean through his throat.

His sheets are soaked with sweat, but everything else is...in place. No lingering shadows, no menacing gold eyes, no shadows. In fact the room is calm.

A quiet breeze from a desk fan rustles Jack's hair, and he breathes an equally quiet sigh of relief, pressing a hand to his chest.

The air turns to concrete in Jack's lungs and his heart almost stops.

He slowly looks down to make sure the long slashes running down his shirt are actually there.

*

"It was probably one of the most terrifying dreams I've ever had," Jack shakes his head and takes another sip of his soda, the icy beverage helping combat the heat of summer in Burgess.

A quick phone call in the morning, and a short drive to the park led Jack to sit at a small table surrounded by cheap plastic chairs with Aster. Jack retold the events of the nightmare to his oldest friend immediately after his alarm went off.

Despite valiant effort, he couldn't get back to sleep after he had woke up - the resounding echoes of screams had filled his ears whenever he drifted off. Aster didn't believe Jack at first, until Jack pulled up a picture of the ripped up shirt and saw the circles uner Jack's eyes.

Recalling the memories of the night before had made Jack shudder, but if anyone has any say on what goes on in his head, it's Aster. Maybe he can help interpret it. Or he'll just make a huge joke out of it. Probably the later.

Aster folds his hands behind his head, leaning back in his seat and crossing his boots on the unoccupied chair next to Jack. The heat is sweltering, Jack has no idea how this guy can wear leather jackets and jeans in the middle of June.

"That's pretty creepy. But actually mate, I think I can one up ya," Aster starts.

"I didn't know this was a contest?"

"It ain't! Ya didn't even let me start my story ya knob!"

Jack rolls his eyes. "Stop using slang that just sounds like you're making dick jokes. Not all of us can study abroad in Australia."

"Fine fine," Aster waves his hand dismissively and looks straight at Jack, his expression sobering into something grim. Not a good look. "But seriously, my dream. It was like yours, but mine was in my house. I felt someone watching me, the whole time, and even though it was just my dank apartment in the dark, it was still one of the creepiest fuckin' dreams I've ever had! I was attacked, chased down! You mentioned, what, metal? That was in mine too!"

Aster bursts out a laugh, one loud confident bark that shakes the dark tone from his face. "But I woke up before the wanker could get me! How crazy we both had the same dream."

Jack quirks his lips up in a smile, but he's anything but relaxed. A nagging feeling pulls at the back of his mind that this isn’t going to be the end of it. Brushing off the ordeal is really the only logical option, but he just can’t shake the fact that his shirt, now a pile of ashes in the garbage, had been clawed at.

Aster’s phone buzzes on the table and he nearly flips out of his chair trying to get to it.

Flipping it open with ease and reading the message as Jack raises a questioning eyebrow, Aster curses under his breath.

“Shit, North is waiting on us, why didn’t you tell me what time it was?!”

“Because I’m in such a hurry to watch you and your freaking boyfriend make stupid faces at each other. Yeah no.”

Aster was too busy trying to whip out a response to North to glance at Jack with anything other than a heavily sarcastic "you are so funny" expression.

Slipping his phone into his pocket, Aster boltes off to go to another side of the park, leaving Jack to throw away his empty soda can and sprint to catch up with him.

They meet North at the other end of the park, Aster instantly falling into his arms and overplaying the swooning as per usual when Jack was around.

Aster deserves a punch in his stupid tattooed arm, but Jack settles for quietly mock-pouting as they wait for Toothiana to show up. As they sit, North tells them about his odd dream.

He had escaped harm, like Aster, but that didn't help Jack's state of mind. Once Jack forced the paranoia to the back of his mind, he laughs with the other two about stupid dreams.

"Jealous?" Aster teases, poking Jack with his foot.

Underneath a tree, Aster is curled in North's lap and Jack is sitting some distance away from them. Being a third wheel is awkward enough without having to endure over exaggerated kissing sounds. No thanks.

"He is jealous Aster! He pouts like when we were in first grade and you would take all the crayons."

Jack swats Aster's boot away, turning to make a disgusted face at the both of them. North returns the look and it holds for all of two seconds before all three of them burst into laughter.

"What's with the good times I'm missing out on?" Jack turns and Tooth appears from out of thin air. She's all smiles and colorful clothes as she sits cross-legged next to Jack, flashing him a quick smile that melts his heart..

"We were just talking about how in love with you Jack is," Aster taps Jack with his boot again. Jack visibly cringes and stares open mouthed at Aster with a look between betrayal and rage. Oh Aster was going to pay for that later.

Tooth laughs it off, of course. As much as her laugh resounds through Jack's system like a beautiful harmony, it always hurts.

"Did anyone else have a really weird dream last night? I did!" Tooth casually diverts the conversation as she takes off her messenger bag and lays it in her lap. She pulls out an apple and brushes it off on her jeans.

Aster cocks an eyebrow and Jack freezes in his seat.

"Yeah," North responds. "I think we all did. Strange huh?"

Tooth vigorously nods, taking a bite of her apple, and speaking through chews.

"At least it was a dream!"

*

The four of them all sit in North's living room. The complex he lives in is small, but cozy. Textbooks and notes were thrown aside hours ago in favor of a snacks, a few movies, and a raided liquor cabinet.

Jack's surprised to find after only two beers Mr. Tough Guy I'll-punch-you-in-the-face-for-looking-at-me-wrong-Aster lapsed into clinging to North on the couch like it's the last thing he'll ever do. At least it leaves Jack to sit with Tooth on the floor.

His head swims with thoughts and nightmares and shadows that he'd rather have left at home, but the film is a nice distraction, for the time being.

The movie plays on, some 80's horror flick that's supposed to be terrifying but just winds up cheesy and ridiculous. Jack nearly spits out his popcorn with all the joking Tooth makes about loopholes and horrible effects. None of them can take the movie seriously before it's over.

"Look at this guy," Tooth points to the screen as the main villain makes his second appearance. "He looks like if Willam Dafoe and Sylvester Stallone had a baby then set it on fire.”

North almost chokes on his drink and flips Aster onto the floor.

Tooth shoots her hands up in exasperation as another teenager is cut down and Aster falls into a fit of giggles. Jack shakes his head with a laugh, and downs the rest of his beer in one gulp. It won’t do any good to choke on it while Tooth talks.

Jack turns his attention back to the movie, just as a screaming teenage girl has her face cleaved in half. Blood sprays the camera, and Jack cringes and looks away.

Sitting through horror is not one of his strong suits. Even with Tooth's jokes, it's a hard pill to swallow.

The entire day had been full of paranoia; Jack turning corners with his heart pounding, peering into shadows to make exactly sure nobody's waiting for him -- it's exhausting. He hasn't the faintest idea why he agreed to watch this movie, he isn't going to fall asleep tonight.

Movie girl keeps running through whatever abandoned house she had the misfortune of happening upon, blood streaming down her face and splattering onto the floor. Stumbling over what Jack can only infer as thin air, the girl wheels around -- the killer is right behind her.

Quickly covering his eyes, the scream coming from the TV and Tooth’s disappointed shout of “Awwww! Man, she could’ve gotten away so easily! Clumsy bimbo," sets Jack over the edge.

Everything is dark behind his hands and Jack's head is spinning. He's suddenly back in the boiler room with, choking on boiling metal and tar, that awful voice closing him coiling shadows around his lungs ripping his gut apart with razor wire. It's too much way to much and the world tilts sideways and Jack is left upright but everything is blood and dark and he's cold and--

“Hey, Jack, you okay?”

Jack feels a light hand on his shoulder once the music for a sappy love scene starts playing on screen. The darkness dissolves as he blinks away the tears threatening to fall at the corners of his eyes. Tooth's vibrant hair sticks out against the near pitch black of the room, reflecting against the shine from the tv.

His hands shake. His breath comes out heavy as the horrible cackle echoes in the back of his mind.

“I don’t….I’m...I'm fine. It’s just...that dream...it really messed me up,” Jack stutters as he shakes his head. He takes a calming breath, but his hands won't stop shaking. This isn't supposed to happen. They're all staring at him. God it's embarrassing.

Tooth squeezes his shoulder in reassurance.

"We've all had dreams like that, it's totally natural to be shaken up." Her teeth flash in a smile. Jack shakes his head, shrugging off Tooth’s hand despite the warmth and comfort she radiates at every waking moment.

"I'll get over it after tonight," Jack reaffirms, scratching at the back of his neck. Tooth doesn't look convinced, neither does North or Aster. He hopes he'll be fine, he just needs to get some water, maybe a granola bar, and the whole mess will be behind him in the morning. He pushes the episode to the back of his mind as the others shrug.

The screen continues to play the final scene, the two characters left alive are driving into the sunset to live happily ever after...or whatever. Jack turns, face burning, back to the screen, resting his chin on his folded arms.

North and Aster start whispering behind him, a little too loud for Jack to ignore the seductive tone behind Aster's voice. As much as Jack doesn't care about knowing the personal lives of others and how they mingle....there's still a factor that makes him want to hurl knowing exactly what two of his oldest friends are planning.

"Hey...we're gonna....gonna go..." Aster rolls lazily off North and stands up, grabbing the arm of the couch for support. North snorts and stands up on his own.

Tooth scoffs and holds up a hand in front of Aster, flexing out her index, middle finger and thumb.

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

Aster bats her hand away. "Three. Thanks mom, for the alcohol check, but I'm just tipsy...and something else," he adds with a glance to North, who snorts again, just as drunk as Aster.

Tooth turns to Jack and pretends to dry heave, putting Jack on his back with laughter. Tooth rests her hands on her hips as North grabs Aster's hand and drags him down the hall next to the kitchen.

"Aren't you gonna go be their better judgement?"

"Nah, let them regret it in the morning. Besides, it is North's place, and it's the few times a year he gets to see Aster when his parents aren't down his throat about college."

A soft "Oh" is the best response Jack can think of as Tooth goes to turn off the TV. The only light source that remains is the glow from the outside window looking directly into the street.

The minimal amount of light coming from a street lamp reflects off Tooth's multiple earrings and bangles as she sets Aster and North's empty beer bottles on the coffee table. Jack decides it's too damn dark, too creepy, and walks into the kitchen to flick on a light.

Standing still for too long makes Jack's world try and do a backflip without his permission, so he stumbles to the fridge and pulls out a bottle of water. He blames the rising heat in his cheeks on the alcohol as Tooth rests a casual arm on his shoulder.

"You should sleep after that.”

"You're...not tired?" Jack asks between gulps.

"Exhausted. But you're my friend, I gotta make sure you don't wind up killing yourself trying to stumble into the spare bed."

Ugh. Friend. Jack almost hangs his head and groans, but decides against it seeing as throwing up on the floor isn’t a good look.

He downs the last of the water and throws the plastic into the recycling. Tooth follows as he takes the sharp right out of the kitchen and into the hallway where the spare rooms line the wall. A loud groan comes from Aster in the first room and Jack almost strains a muscle rolling his eyes. Show off.

Tooth smirks at the noise, opening a door further down to let Jack in. He mumbles a thanks and passes out the second he hits the mattress. Why was he so freaked out about sleeping earlier?

*

"Jack! Jack, wake up something's wrong!" Tooth's words cut through Jack's dreamless sleep. She’s panicked. Tooth never panicked.

With a foggy head, Jack's vision slowly comes to. The next thing to hit him is screaming; horrible, blood curdling screaming coming from the other room.

Aster. His shouts reverberate through the walls and almost drown out North's equally loud shrieks.

Tooth is out the door and in the hallway before Jack even sits up.

All grogginess is washed away as Aster’s screaming starts up again, pure terror in his voice.

Tooth slams her fists against the door, twisting the handle to no avail, shouting over North's cries.

"Aster! North! Open the door!"

"Help! Help me someone please! Oh god!" North hollers. That’s quickly followed by an awful crunching noise and his scream of agony.

Jack bolts out of bed, breath coming out in short gasps as panic grips tight. He’s banging on the door after Tooth,, when he suddenly remembers.

"Tooth! Key!" Jack's sweat-slicked fingers slide over the top of the door frame, frantically searching for a slim cool piece that can get them to their friends.

Jack fumbles on a small piece of metal and it drops to the floor. Tooth picks it up, hands violently shaking as North's cries for help suddenly became muffled along with Aster's. Jack’s head spins, he can’t breathe, there’s pressure closing around his head like a vice and his nerves shoot signals of spiderwebs across his skin.

"Oh my god -- oh my god. ASTER! NORTH!" Tooth repeats over and over, banging on the door with her free hand turning the key in the lock.

Rushing water pulses through Jack's ears and the back of his throat tastes like copper as Tooth busts open the door just in time for North's shrill cry to be cut short as a spray of dark red liquid shoots in an arc along the floor.

The world grinds to a halt, and Jack holds his breath.

There’s a sharp clang of metal against wood as Tooth drops the key to the floor.

The sheets are shredded and laying in pieces thrown across the floor, the mattress is dripping a dark, heavy liquid, completely saturated through one large splotch on the center. Several random splatters of red mark the walls. One long dark streak travels from the headboard to the middle of the ceiling, then drags down the right wall of the room.

It’s blood. It’s all North’s blood.

The world starts rotating again as Jack sees Aster pulling himself out from underneath the bed, clothes torn, covered in blood.

Pushing away an instinct to run, Jack crouches down next to Aster, who was curling into a fetal position on the floor, muttering something to himself.

Jack's hand hovers over Aster's shoulder, hesitant to touch. Aster shakes violently on the floor, small whimpers escaping his mouth. It’s like he doesn’t even notice Jack in front of his face. Fuck it.

Jack grabs Aster's shoulders and almost pukes. Oh god the blood is still warm. "What happened?"

Jack takes in the deep gashes on his Aster's face and chest, the eyes wide with fear and face nearly devoid of color as tears fall freely down his face.

Looking past Jack to horrors only known to himself, Aster points with a shaky finger to the bed, a growing pool of red seeping into the surrounding carpet. The rushing water is back in Jack's ears.

Jack lays Aster on the floor, trying so hard to ignore the blood caking his hands.

He creeps forwards on all fours towards the bed, pulse in his throat.

Slowly leaning down, Jack makes himself level with the bottom of the bed frame. He realizes too late from an awful squishing noise that his pants are now soaked in blood. Tooth still hasn’t said a word.

He lowers his head, peering into the darkness and letting his eyes adjust.

Jack screams.

North's face is twisted and mangled, blood oozing out of every orifice. His right leg is bent backwards at the knee, and he's nearly cut in half, intestines broken in pieces and trailing to his body that's crudely smushed under the bed.

Jack's blood runs cold again, shooting through his veins like ice as he scrambles backwards, running into Aster.

Jack presses his palms into his eye sockets, trying to keep the image from burning into his corneas..

This is a bad dream. It has to be. He needs to wake up -- right now!.

No.

No no.

NO!

That isn't North, that can't be North, that can't be the broken body of one of his best friends under a bed.

The alcohol had lost it's effect hours ago, but Jack's world spins. He breaks into a cold sweat, sending ghost fingers down his back. He hardly registers Tooth following his path to check under the bed until her sharp scream snaps him back to reality.

She backpedals just as Jack did, falling against the door and breaking down into sobs and mutters.

North is dead.

Is this another twisted dream? North can't be gone, he just can't be! It didn't make any sense!

Jack starts to hyperventilate as Aster lifts himself up, droplets of blood falling off his hair and onto Jack. His faceis still white, as he runs his fingers through his hair, shaking with sobs.

"Shit. Shit!"

Sitting up on his knees, Aster takes in the state of the room.

"Fuck! What do we do?!"

A loud banging on the front door and a woman's voice makes them all jump, and Jack's heart nearly stops.

"Hey! Is everything okay?! I heard screaming!"

Aster stares out the door. "His neighbors..."

"I called the police! They're on their way! Is everything okay in there?!" The voice shouts.

Tooth hiccups, and Jack feels relief wash over him. The cops can help. They can sort this out.

"Fuck!" Aster stands up so quickly he almost trips over his feet on the bloody carpet. He careens into the nightstand, grabbing the sides for support. Jack looks to Tooth, both thinking the same thing, and stand to help Aster.

"Aster wait--" Tooth began.

"You think the cops are going to believe me?! I was the only one in here when he died!"

"But you didn't--"

Aster pushes past Tooth and Jack, stumbling over himself and out the door into the hallway.

Jack hears him slam against the opposite wall, followed by a series of padded footsteps leading out to the living room. A crash of glass, more banging, then the door opens. Tooth gives Jack a wildly panicked look, and they both bolt out the door.

There's a loud scream in the hallway when Aster pushes past the neighbor, Tooth and Jack following his bloody footprints out the door.

They scramble after him, apologizing to the woman as they bolt past. Jack's heart is in his throat . If Aster could just stay and think for a moment to rationally explain to the police, everything will be fine! It had to be!

Tooth shouts after Aster, calling for him to come back. The panic rises in her voice as he turns out of the building and starts across the lawn in front of the complex..

Aster stops dead in his tracks when blue and red light start flashing in the distance. There's shouting over a static megaphone, so much shouting, but Jack can't register anything. This isn't a dream. He isn't going to wake up.

The bright white of a spotlight blinds all of them, and the three of them raise their hands in surrender and fall to their knees.

*

Jack taps his pencil impatiently against his desk. Summer classes are the absolute worst, but necessary. He’s grateful he only has to take the one, but that doesn’t help the fact that the only thing less interesting than Calculus is memorizing the dictionary.

North’s bloody face keeps flashing behind his eyes when he blinks. Aster is covered in blood and being dragged away by the police.

Neither Jack nor Tooth had bothered to step foot in that room again when an investigation at four in the morning had started. They were all forced down to the station, answering questions and giving fingerprints. Aster wasn’t even allowed to wash his hands as he was thrown into a holding cell. Jack gave Aster one last look as he was ushered out of the building and told to go home.

He hasn’t slept in three days.

Golden eyes burn into his vision, terror kept him awake where pots of coffee didn’t. Every single light in his bedroom was kept on, the curtains were drawn shut, and the bedframe promptly sawed in half so it was physically impossible to be dragged underneath.

Knees were curled to his chest for hours on end, music blasting through headphones and something gory playing on TV. It worked well enough keeping Jack awake….Until he was forced to sit perfectly still in a classroom with no sound except the buzzing fluorescents and the monotone teacher.

Jack rests his chin on his fist, eyelids heavier with each passing minute, trying to think of anything that wasn’t calculus. His eyes snap open just as he’s about to fall asleep.

Jack opens his textbook, flipping through pages to keep his mind occupied. Formulas, pages of text, followed by more formulas. The teacher drones on as he flips through another chapter, then stops.

The next page is splattered with blood, North’s faded face distorts in horror in crude black and white ink. The classroom is frozen in time, students halfway through turning a page, the teacher pointing at the board and mouth hanging open on a half formed word.

Jack grips the edges of his desk till his knuckles turn white and holds his breath, realizing the room stinks of pond water and burnt hair.

His eyes squeeze shut, he wills himself to get out of this world back to the safety of reality as he repeats a mantra of

“Wake up. Wake up wake up wake up wake up--”

The world jolts.

Jack opens his eyes to a room covered in ash. Sunlight wafts in through a single broad window, one of the only things left untouched by fire. Jack’s eyes adjust to the change and his stomach lurches at the man covered in black smoke and shadows, long clawed fingers dragging down the chalkboard.

“Didn’t you learn not to fall asleep in class?”

The only color of this man is his piercing yellow eyes, pinning Jack to the spot. He takes a long step towards Jack, a grin cracking like ice across his face.

Jack bolts out of his desk, stumbling out into the hallway. The shade’s cackle echoes along the blood-stained linoleum as Jack bursts into another classroom, almost falling face-first into two feet of water.

The shade stands at the chalkboard, adding to the crude drawings with his metallic fingers. He cocks his head to one side, turning so the two of them were face to face.

“Hello Jack.”

“Who are you?” Jack chokes out, wrenching his eyes away.

His nose burns with the smell of smoke as the man takes a step towards him.

“You’re still…So beautiful.” The man mutters, filling Jack’s lungs with the smell of rotting flesh, reaching out with a gray and partially decomposed hand towards Jack.

Jack's breath is labored and his back hits the wall as sharp fingers get closer and closer to his face.

The man’s face pulls into a smile showing broken teeth under cracked lips. Jack can hear the distant screams of thousands of children with each long exhale behind gray lips.

“Don’t worry Jack,” Shadows close around him and Jack stumbles back!

“This should only hurt…” His hand gets closer to Jack's face and they sink lower. The corpse is inches from his face, breathing putrid air into his lungs as Jack hyperventilates.

“For a little bit…” The shade’s hand twists and there was a scorching pain through Jack’s head as he's ripped from his nightmare and screams himself awake.

The classroom collectively jumps, and the teacher cuts off mid-sentence.

“Mr. Frost, are you alright?” Thirty pairs of eyes are staring at him. He gives a small nod in response.

It seems to be enough, and the collective stares turn away to focus back on their work. He glances to Jamie, who mouths ‘what happened?’ Jack shakes his head in response, waving him off.

Jamie turns away with a concerned glance just as Jack feels a slow trickle of blood run down his temple and drip onto his desk.

He sits through the rest of calculus trying to keep his hands from trembling.

*

"Tooth please! We can take shifts! I can't go another night without sleeping and I know you can't either," Jack pleads into his phone.

He hears a sigh on the other end.

"Fine. I get off at six, I'll be over at your place at eight." The phone clicks and Jack breathes an easy sigh of relief. He’s going to be safe tonight, as long as someone watches and makes sure nobody hurts him.

Tooth's knock sounds promptly at eight.

Jack told his mother she was coming to study and spend the night, that they both needed the emotional support.

Jack's mother gave an understanding nod to the both of them as Tooth walked in, setting her bag down on the couch. She takes up Mrs. Frost's offer of dinner, looking more worn out than Jack, work piling on top of a weekend of sleepless nights. Jack notices several small cuts lining Tooth's arms, and rather long series of scratches that resemble claw marks running diagonally down her calf. Tooth had covered most of it with make up, but her dark skin can only cover so much.

They talk of North, how sad it is he was taken away, how odd the circumstances of his death were, the mystery of his murder. Surely Aster couldn't have done it, that’s downright crazy.

She notes the bags under Tooth's eyes, comparing them to Jack's and talking about how her boy has been up for days because of the tragedy.

Jack and Tooth share a glance, but Tooth remains quiet.

*

Tooth writes out a schedule for two hour shifts. Jack sleeps the first one, Tooth the next, so on and so forth.

Jack once again automatically falls asleep the second his head hits the pillows.

Jack is on the grass outside the police station, wearing the exact same thing he fell asleep in. It's the middle of the night.

Panic dominates as Jack frantically looks around for any sign of the nightmare man. He strains his ears for the slightest hint, anything at all, but is only greeted by the calming sound of crickets and cars passing by on the street.

Something tells his mind to go to the window on the far left, so he treads carefully.

Aster! It's his holding cell! Maybe Jack can get him out!

Aster's sleeping peacefully on the bed, legs curled up and arms tucked under his head. The station finally let him shower and change clothes, although an orange jumpsuit isn't helping his innocence appeal.

A feeling in the air tells Jack something is very wrong.

Jack bangs against the glass, and Aster hardly even stirs. Jack shouts his name, hoping to any deity in the sky that Aster will wake up and see him.

Nothing.

That's when Jack notices the shifting bed sheets that Aster had tossed onto the floor.

They knot onto each other, forming a crude rope. Jack gulps and panic floods through him as they creep their way up the bed and wind around Aster's neck.

"Aster!" Jack screams as loud as he possibly can.

Aster sleeps on.

"Wake up!" He slams both fists against the glass before wheeling away and crouching below the window, clamping his palms over his temples and shutting his eyes.

"Wake up wake up wake up!"

Jack's eyes fly open and he’s back in his room.

Tooth is watching TV next to him. Before she gets a sound out, Jack has her by the shoulders.

"Aster is in trouble, we need to go to the station."

Dealing with panic is easy.

Dealing with shaking hands while driving and a deathly quiet Tooth, he can get over that.

Being scared out of his wits from a dream is nothing compared to this.

Aster’s hanging by his neck with tied up bed sheets in the cramped box they call a cell, slowly rotating, half-lidded eyes staring into nothingness and tear tracks running down his face.

Jack collapses onto the floor after he rips past security. No words, no screaming, no shocked revelations, just silence and creaking rope.

This can't be happening.

This has to be some kind of sick joke.

*

They leave the station and get back to Jack's house, Jack's jaw clenches the whole drive home. Tooth falls into quietly staring out the window.

Jack's mother waits for them in the living room. Jack forces himself to explain and as she sweeps both of them up in a hug, breaking down the thin facade Jack built up on the way back.

Aster isn't coming back.

Exhausted, Jack and Tooth both drag themselves to Jack's room, half set on continuing the schedule they had put in place.


End file.
